


Hover Through The Fog and Filthy Air

by TheSofterGentlerMe



Series: The Long Shadow of Our Pasts [5]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fear, Hurt, Mental Anguish, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale, hard choices
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-17 02:14:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28592340
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSofterGentlerMe/pseuds/TheSofterGentlerMe
Summary: Adora and Glimmer have gone off to handle the problem with Shadow Weaver while Bow stays behind with Finn and a sleeping Catra. Bow's nervous but he's working hard on not passing that on to Finn because while he's worried about his wife and friend, he knows he and Finn will be alright because nothing bad canreallyhappen in Bright Moon after all.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra), Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra), Glimbow - Relationship, catradora - Relationship
Series: The Long Shadow of Our Pasts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2088336
Comments: 11
Kudos: 47





	Hover Through The Fog and Filthy Air

**Author's Note:**

> Shall we?

Bow tried not to think about what Adora and Glimmer had gone off to do as he flipped through his tracker pad and then handed it to Finn so they could see a flyer for an electronics club in the Bright Moon village. Behind them, Catra continued to sleep.

“You think you’d be interested in that?” Bow said, giving a little yawn as Finn read it. 

“That’d be great!” Finn said as they looked it over. “Will you go with me?”

Bow nodded and said, “Sure! I’ll free up the evening if I’ve got something going on already.”

Finn flicked through Bow’s tracker pad looking for a circuit design program Bow had on it. Adora and Glimmer had only been gone for a few minutes and he was already a little nervous. As Finn pulled up the program, Bow covered his mouth as a huge yawn escaped from him. 

_ Ugh, I shouldn’t be this tired. Shouldn’t have eaten all that cake and pastry,  _ Bow thought as he blinked his eyes.  _ And if they’re not back in fifteen minutes, I am going to freak out. _

Finn typed at a simple circuit diagram, just fiddling around to make something to show Bow, when Bow gave a big stretch and yet another huge yawn escaped from his mouth. 

“Sheesh, Uncle Bow, don’t tell me you want a nap as well,” Finn said as they looked up. 

Bow gave a little smile as his eyes unfocused a little. 

“Maybe, just for a minute,” Bow said, his words almost slurring as he stretched his arms over his head and then lay them on the table and set his head down on them. 

“Oh come on, Uncle Bow,” Finn said in irritation as Bow started to snore.

Then Finn looked up when they heard the door open a moment later, a smile on their face hoping it was Adora and Glimmer coming back. For a split second they thought they saw the robe of a Bright Moon guard but got confused a little because the person who came through the door wore a long red dress that billowed along the floor. She had long black hair that seemed to move a little as she closed the door behind her and briefly ran her hand a few inches down it before turning around. She smiled at Finn, the scars on her grey skin moving as she did. 

“Why hello, Finn,” she said, her voice smooth and calm. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you for some time.” 

Finn looked at her in confusion. 

“Do I know you?” Finn said. 

“No, dear, but I have known your mothers for years and years,” she said.

Finn started to feel a little uneasy and gently nudged Bow with their foot, trying to wake him up. 

“Um, my Mother and Uncle Bow are asleep right now and my Mom stepped out for a minute,” Finn said. “Could you come back later, please?” 

“Such nice manners you have, Finn,” she said as she seemed to slide forward a little. Finn stood up from the table and backed up a little towards the bed where Catra slept. “Why are you backing up? Does my appearance frighten you?” 

Finn shook their head and said, “No. I just feel uncomfortable since I don’t know you. I’d like it if you left and came back when my Mother and Uncle Bow were awake, please. We can meet then.” 

“Oh, I believe I understand. I haven’t even introduced myself. How rude of me,” she said with a smile. “My name is Shadow Weaver.” 

Finn vaguely knew the name but Catra and Adora had told Finn almost nothing about her. Finn just knew that she was someone that they had once known and that was about it. The fact that she probably did know their moms didn’t make Finn feel any more comfortable as they continued to back up towards the bed. 

“Ok, you told me your name, you know my name, we’ve been introduced, now go away,” Finn said as Shadow Weaver drifted a little closer. Bow jerked a little in his sleep and let out a little low moan, like he had seen something distressing. 

Shadow Weaver frowned as she said, “That’s very rude of you. You shouldn’t talk to adults that way, Finn.” 

Finn backed up a little more towards the bed, their heart pounding, and they heard Catra give a little snort in her sleep. 

“If you don’t want to be talked to like that, then you shouldn’t act the way you are right now,” Finn said. 

Shadow Weaver’s eyes narrowed as she said, “Sass and bravado. I know exactly where you get that from.” 

Finn felt themself starting to shake a little as she started to get closer and Finn continued to back up. 

“Finn, you should stop being so rude and offer me a seat,” Shadow Weaver said. “We have a lot to talk about after all, you and I.” 

Finn bumped against the bed and Shadow Weaver was almost there, looming over them when Finn heard behind them Catra say, “No, you don’t!”

They felt the rush of air as Catra leapt over them, blankets, pillows, and stuffed whale flying away from her as she exploded out of the bed and slammed into Shadow Weaver as her claws raked across her face. Shadow Weaver dropped back as Catra pressed the attack and then suddenly, Catra dropped to the floor, mouth hanging open and snoring. Shadow Weaver held her hand to the wound and Finn watched in horror as it scarred over in an instant. 

“That blasted spell! She should have been soundly asleep!” Shadow Weaver said as she got her footing back and Finn ran for the balcony screaming at the top of their lungs for help. Shadow Weaver flowed forward towards them. 

“Stop that racket, Finn, it’s unseemly. Besides, you don’t need to be afraid. I’m not here to hurt you. In fact, I’m here to help you. I’m going to make you powerful and strong,” Shadow Weaver said. “Now stop with your little fit so we can talk.” 

Finn tripped over the blankets and sheets that had fallen off the bed and fell to the ground as Shadow Weaver approached. 

“Go away! GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE!” Finn screamed at her as she circled them. 

As Finn curled into a ball on the floor, tangled in the sheets, they suddenly heard a wonderful thing. Someone was trying to open the door. They Adora on the other side saying, “Open the door right now!” 

Shadow Weaver’s eyes narrowed and she settled down behind Finn and with a gesture of her hand, dragged Bow and Catra to hover in front of her, wrapped in black and red bands of smoke. Adora went from knocking to pounding in a second and then the door suddenly had a giant glowing circle appear on it before it simply dissolved as Adora strode in as She-Ra with Glimmer right behind her. Adora saw Shadow Weaver standing over Finn and she hissed as she brought her sword up and Glimmer brought up a huge spell with both hands.

“Ah! Temper, temper, you two!” Shadow Weaver said sweetly as she swayed Catra and Bow in front of her. “You don’t want to accidentally hurt anyone important to you now do you?” 

Glimmer spit at her as Adora tried to line the sword up with her for a blast. 

“How good an aim do you think you are, Adora?” Shadow Weaver said, locking eyes with her. “Why don’t you just let me speak for a moment? We can resolve this without your little hysterics, I’m sure.” 

“Whatever you’re about to say isn’t going to matter,” Adora said as she shook her head a little to clear a noise from her ear like someone tapping on glass. “If you leave me alive, I’ll hunt you to the ends of the universe. The stars will flare and die out before I rest from finding you so do yourself a favor. Step to the side now so I have a clean shot because if I have to hunt you, I won’t be so kind.” 

“Adora, this all started because you couldn’t keep your temper when we had our little reconnection the other day. I just wanted to meet your child. And look, there they are,” Shadow Weaver said in a sweet voice, gesturing with her free hand at Finn curled up in a frightened ball at her feet. “They and I were about to have a lovely talk before you interrupted us so rudely. Since you’re here however, I’ll have the conversation with you. You just need to take a breath and stop being so overly emotional.” 

Glimmer glanced to the side with her eyes, realizing she could teleport beside Shadow Weaver where she’d have a clear shot, when Shadow Weaver shifted her gaze for a moment and said in a menacing tone, “I’ll crush him as soon as you try, Your Majesty. Don’t test me.” 

Glimmer tensed up and wondered if she could still make it but then sagged a little as she realized she couldn’t risk it. Adora lowered the sword a little and said, “You’re not walking out of here.” 

“Enough with the melodramatics, Adora. I came into this castle with no problem, I’ll leave it the same way,” Shadow Weaver said in a tone of a parent chiding an unruly child. “Now, both of you, sit, please. Let’s talk.” 

“No, I’ll stand right here,” Glimmer said. 

Suddenly the bands wrapping Bow tightened and Bow groaned low. 

“Are you sure you want to argue with me, Your Majesty?” Shadow Weaver said, a little smile playing over her lips. 

Angry tears ran down Glimmer’s face as she said, “If Adora doesn’t get you, I will.” 

“Now that you’ve got that pointless show of bravery out, sit down at the table, please,” Shadow Weaver said with a nod of her head as Bow gave another groan. Glimmer and Adora slowly made their way to the table as Shadow Weaver carefully kept Bow and Catra between her and them and slowly walked around Finn as well, keeping them at her feet. Adora shook her head again as the tapping noise picked up a little but they both got to the table and paused for a moment without sitting.

Shadow Weaver in a stern tone said, “Sit. Now. If I have to ask either of you again, one of them goes away.”

Adora and Glimmer pulled out chairs and sat down at the table as Adora laid the sword across the table. 

“See? Isn’t this nice? It’s just like when I lived here before. All of us together for a little conversation,” Shadow Weaver said with a smile. 

“Finn, honey, are you ok?” Adora said, clenching the edge of the table. 

“They’re fine,” Shadow Weaver said with a cold smile. “As I told them when I arrived, I don’t want to hurt them, I want to help them. Finn has so much potential and I want to be sure they reach it all, just like I tried to do for you, Adora.” 

Adora spat out, “You didn’t want to help me reach some perfect me, you wanted a tool and you didn’t mind hurting those I loved to get it. Just like you are doing RIGHT NOW!” 

“Adora, you were an unruly child and I had to rein you in. As soon as I wasn’t there to guide you, you wasted yourself. You have so much power and what do you do with it? Make maps and attend silly little balls. Finn has the potential to be so much more than even you are now or could have been,” Shadow Weaver said. “I will train them and love them as I loved you, Adora. You’ll understand once you see what I can mold them to be.” 

“NO!” Adora said. 

“This is going to happen. You don’t really have anything to bargain or threaten me with. You will let me do this or you will see just what I can do when I’m displeased. I may not have the raw power either of you possess but I have what you both lack and that is discipline, foresight, and the ability to wield the power I do have with precision. Don’t worry, Adora, I’m not going to take them away forever. You’ll still see them occasionally,” Shadow Weaver said before briefly glancing at Glimmer. ”Also, Your Majesty, you can stop whatever spell you think you’re being subtle about creating under that table and put your hands where I can see them. Now.” 

Glimmer hands shook in frustration as she put them up on the table and Adora heard a little noise for a second like a breeze blowing away from under the table.

“Don’t do this, please,” Adora said, as she helplessly watched Catra hanging limp in the air and the little ball of fur that was Finn shivering at Shadow Weaver’s feet.

“Now you suddenly remember your manners and now you’re going to try to be sweet and bargain. You always tried to do the same thing when you were a child. There is no bargain. This is what will happen. Finn will come live with me somewhere quiet. They’ll come to see you occasionally, after a suitable time has passed for us to become acquainted of course. If you try and interfere, well, I think you’ve seen what my shadow spies have become with the full magic of the planet unleashed. Just imagine what else I can do,” Shadow Weaver said with a ruthless smile. 

Adora was shaking and couldn’t speak as Glimmer’s hands balled into fists as she glared at Shadow Weaver. After a moment of silence, Shadow Weaver spoke again.

“Adora, I do expect you to acknowledge me, tell me you understand, and accept this. You’re not a child anymore so I will not ask you twice,” Shadow Weaver said, the smile fleeing from her face as her eyes went hard.

Adora felt a sinking sensation because she knew there was no way she would ever accept such a thing. She saw the only hope she had was to strike Shadow Weaver as fast as possible and hope. Her hope though was a cold and empty thing and she knew when it went down, she’d more than likely lose at least one of the people she loved in the process no matter what she did and understood the very real possibility of losing all of them. 

Adora hesitated as that thought circled in her head and felt despair take hold as she prepared to strike. Shadow Weaver’s eyes bore into her as she saw the despair on her face and didn’t understand it as she began to smile thinking she was close to victory. Adora took a deep breath, feeling the inescapable moment rushing towards her as Shadow Weaver’s smile got even larger as she prepared to hear Adora surrender. Then her smile disappeared, replaced by a scream of fury as she felt sharp teeth and small sharp claws sink into her leg.

“Cursed little brat!” Shadow Weaver screamed as she saw Finn latched onto her leg and threw an electrical blast down as they were in the process of trying to sink every sharp point on their body into her. When the blast hit Finn it seemed to flow around them and ground out into the floor and Shadow Weaver’s eyes had confusion in them as she saw her spell have no effect before she kicked her leg hard and sent Finn sprawling. As she did, she heard two thuds and looked up in shock as she realized that Finn had broken her concentration and she’d dropped both Bow and Catra out of her spell. 

Adora and Glimmer reacted immediately. Adora didn’t waste time even trying to grab the sword, she simply hurled the table to the side with one hand as the sword disappeared off of it and into her other hand followed by a glowing lance of light directed straight at Shadow Weaver while Glimmer, still seated, blasted out a spell that lit the room up so brightly it could almost be felt like a physical presence while she screamed in incoherent rage. 

Shadow Weaver threw up a shield but she didn’t try to take the full brunt of the attack on it. She knew that wouldn’t work, that the power the two were throwing about would almost immediately crush the shield and then her, so instead she angled it as she dove out of the way as the fury of their attack hit the shield. It did hold but only for a fraction of a second but that was all that was needed as it deflected the blasts sideways before collapsing. The deflected energy blew an enormous hole through one of the exterior walls and blew rubble out away from the wall of the castle for hundreds of feet. 

Almost at the same time the wall was blowing apart, Glimmer was teleporting to where Shadow Weaver had been standing, putting herself between her and Bow, Catra, and Finn. She was already bringing up another spell as she threw a few bright rapid bursts of light with the other hand when suddenly she couldn’t see anything and she felt something slam into her head, barely held back by the protective spells that she’d encased herself and Adora with only a little while before when they had left. She felt a tendril push against the spell, like a hand into soft plastic, and into her mouth as she gave a muffled scream and grabbed at the creature on her face.

Adora caught a glimpse of Shadow Weaver by the waterfall in the room and turned to blast her when one of the dark creatures leapt towards her, seeming to appear out of thin air. She twisted the sword and sliced it in half before throwing a blast of raw energy towards where she had seen Shadow Weaver standing. Even as she threw the blast though, she could see Shadow Weaver wasn’t there anymore and the blast blew out the waterfall as well as the wall behind it instead. Adora took a split second to take in the room and saw Finn climbing over Catra to try and lay across her, Bow sprawled out motionless on the ground, Glimmer yanking at a black blob attached to her face, and over the sounds of falling stones and screams coming from outside, a loud siren wailing. 

Adora turned frantically as she looked for Shadow Weaver, blasting down the tall curtain hanging behind the bed to be sure she wasn’t hiding behind that, and realized in growing horror that she saw nothing to indicate she was still in the room. She heard Glimmer gasp for air and scream, “Little help, Adora!” 

Adora turned to see Glimmer struggling with the creature held between both of her hands and with a few quick strides and a lunge, she skewered the blob. Once it was gone, Glimmer quickly did the same as Adora had done, looking every which way, before looking back at Adora at the drifting dust in the room. 

“Did we disintegrate her?” Glimmer said, and Adora heard the mingled fear and desperate hope in her voice as she looked at her.

Adora felt fury, fear, and helplessness rolling in her chest as she said, “No. I think… I think she got away.” 

**Author's Note:**

> I have to say that Finn in my other works is a pacifist and I love that about them. This version of Finn… not so much. That's good though or it would have really gone sideways. I do find it funny too because Shadow Weaver was playing 5-D hyper chess and Finn just said forget this and took a hammer to the board. 
> 
> Also, I had made a note probably about two fics back that said, “Shadow Weaver goes to Bright Moon” as a reminder that she’s going to try and sidestep Adora coming back to her cottage. Then I realized while writing the one before this that she’s not _going_ to go, she’s already _there_ and that’s when I added this on to the note in all caps, “NOPE, SHE’S ALREADY IN BRIGHT MOON." I won’t lie. I cackled a little. I hope you're all enjoying this as much as I am!


End file.
